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Monday, 6 February 2017

Hector Bellerin has reassured Arsenal fans he is "recovering well" following his clash with Marcos Alonso during Saturday's 3-1 loss at Chelsea.The right-back received a heavy blow to the head when colliding with the fellow defender, as Chelsea took a 13th-minute lead at Stamford Bridge, and had to be withdrawn.Arsene Wenger confirmed after the game that Bellerin was "concussed", with Gabriel replacing him as Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas wrapped up the three points in the second half.“Thank you for all the messages," the right-back wrote on Instagram."I'm recovering well at home and will soon be back on the pitch to help the team fight back!
Wenger was adamant after the game that Alonso's goal should not have stood following the collison, telling reporters: "Of course it was a foul but they allowed the goal.
"Bellerin didn't know the result of the game at the time."Antonio Conte, however, felt the challenge is what he has come to expect in English football."Alonso jumped more than Bellerin," he said. "To hear this in England, I must be surprised that this is a foul. In Italy, maybe."

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has conceded that the Premier League title is slipping "further out of our hands", but insists that Arsenal will continue to fight until the end.The Gunners now find themselves 12 points off the pace following Saturday's 3-1 loss to leaders Chelsea, leaving many supporters to call for manager Arsene Wenger's head.A 13th season without top-flight silverware now appears a certainty as far as Arsenal are concerned, but midfielder Oxlade-Chamberlain has urged his teammates to continue battling until it becomes mathematically impossible to overhaul Chelsea."It's slipped further out of our hands and there's no hiding from that now," Sky Sports News quotes him as saying."The gap is much bigger and it's going to be hard. But we play for Arsenal football club; if we don't go until the end, we don't deserve to be here. We've got to keep doing that.
"At the top level, against a team like Chelsea, there's a good chance they'll punish you if you make mistakes and they did that.That was disappointing. Then a mistake at the end killed the game for us. Olivier Giroud got one back but at the end it was too late."
Arsenal, who will end the weekend fourth in the table, have now lost four of their last nine Premier League games.